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The Financial Supervision Authority, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the World Bank, organized today in Tirana, the International Conference on "Development of the Insurance Sector - Opportunities and Challenges in Southeast Europe".
The conference discussed "Opportunities and challenges for the development of the insurance sector in Southeast Europe", "The role of insurance in disaster risk management" and "Challenges for the development of insurance in agriculture".
The panelists, high-level representatives of the Albanian Government, international financial institutions, financial supervisory authorities and domestic and international market participants, share their opinions and experiences regarding the insurance market, world practices and the need for diversification and further development of insurance sector in the region and in Albania.
The CEO of "SIGAL UNIQA Group Austria", Mr. Avni Ponari, who was part of the section on "Challenges for the development of agriculture and livestock insurance"
During his speech, the CEO of the "SIGAL UNIQA" Group focused on the insurance market in Albania and the region, stating that they already have the expertise and experience to operate just like any other market in Europe.
"It is not easy to speak behind these experts, however, I will try to extract something from my activity and experience in the insurance industry, from its beginning, to understand what is possible and what should be done.
SIGAL UNIQA is part of a large Austrian group. Since 2007, two strategic investors, Vienna Insurance Group and UNIQA Insurance Group, are in the entire region through two Albanian companies guaranteeing the markets in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia. And this has made these markets more efficient and work with European standards", said Mr. Ponari.
According to him, the insurance industry in our country already has the experience and solvency to take over risks in agriculture, as well as catastrophic insurance and other insurances.
"The insurance industry in Albania, for expertise, experience, solvency, I would say that it is of the best standards that an insurance market can have", said the founder and head of "SIGAL UNIQA Group Austria".
Agriculture is one of the important sectors of the Albanian economy, which, to a large extent, is exposed to atmospheric conditions, also induced as a result of climate change.
Therefore, Agricultural Insurance is an important risk management tool that helps farmers protect themselves from financial losses due to natural disasters and climatic conditions.
And according to Mr. Ponari, the insurance companies in Albania are ready to take over the risks in this sector.
"Being in these positions, even in the field of agriculture, he has all the opportunities to organize and manage it very successfully. To organize and manage both catastrophic insurance and other insurances, which are in discussion processes and for which we have our opinions, because of our experience".
What I want to say and what is important, the insurance market in Albania, agricultural insurance, voluntary insurance, health, wealth are insurances with different specifications in each country. Each country has its own specifics. Just like every district in Albania has its own specifics. I operate in three countries and in all three countries, despite the fact that the product has the same name, it has inside the different specifications that are very important for each country", added the CEO of "SIGAL UNIQA Group Austria".
SIGAL UNIQA Group Austria has conducted a study, which shows the total value of insurable assets in Albanian agriculture and livestock and what is the annual premium for their insurance.
"We have done a research and it turns out that the total amount of agricultural assets that can be secured in Albania is 2.5 billion Euros. While the annual premium for their insurance is 80 million Euros.
"There are many threats in the agricultural sector, starting from the weather, also driven by climate change. But in Albania the main dangers are hail and floods. As for the pools, they are evident and present in the entire Albanian insurance market paying claims of any kind", said Mr. Avni Ponari.
Mr. Avni Ponari during his speech
Despite the fact that all the panelists present at the conference gave their ideas and experiences, according to the countries they came from, they all agreed on one point: Agriculture without insurance cannot exist. And without government-insurance company-farmer cooperation, agricultural insurance can never be successful.
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